Thursday 10th June 2004

Land Speed Record Canned

Salt flats aren't flat today

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The Primetime land Speed Record team, in their car ABB e=motion, have been forced to postpone their World Electric Land Speed record Attempt. Freak weather conditions  have resulted in the salt flats not being too flat at the moment and therefore unsuitable for driving at high speeds.

Driver Mark Newby commented: "We had a track mapped out for the attempt which was shorter than we would have liked anyway. Overnight, the rising of the water table beneath the salt flats meant that large areas - which had previously been usable - became marshy. The car needs a dry, flat surface on which to run and this was no longer available to us ."

The team are obviously disappointed. Many man-years of engineering effort and expertise have led up to the Tunisia expedition, the culmination of a four-year project. Newby continued: "The problem is not the car or the engineering, which was all superb. We’ve just been temporarily frustrated by the weather. The car itself is ready to go and as soon as we can find 11km of continuous flat land we’re ready to go ."

[dinkel]

So what is wrong with the usual landspeedrecordtrack? Was it Black Rock Desert, 125 miles north of Reno . . .

[modernbeat]

I have to admit surprise that they even thought that the salt might be stable enough to run on. This time of year it's usually covered with an inch or so of water. At the speed meet in Aug it's -just- dry enough to run on, though they sometimes need to lay out the two courses very carefully to avoid the damp spots.

El Mirage dry lake meets are next weekend though.

And I also wonder why they aren't at Black Rock. Maybe because it's owned and run by the military, while Bonneville is owned by the US Park Service and run by a small committee in Wendover, Utah.

[grahambell]

modernbeat said:

I have to admit surprise that they even thought that the salt might be stable enough to run on. This time of year it's usually covered with an inch or so of water. At the speed meet in Aug it's -just- dry enough to run on, though they sometimes need to lay out the two courses very carefully to avoid the damp spots. El Mirage dry lake meets are next weekend though. And I also wonder why they aren't at Black Rock. Maybe because it's owned and run by the military, while Bonneville is owned by the US Park Service and run by a small committee in Wendover, Utah.

They're not in the US, they're in Tunisia. Presumably because it's closer to UK and therefore cheaper.

[dinkel]

grahambell said:

modernbeat said: ( . . . ) And I also wonder why they aren't at Black Rock. ( . . . ) They're not in the US, they're in Tunisia. Presumably because it's closer to UK and therefore cheaper.

Cheaper? What will this cost then? Not to mention the bad publicity. Allright, let's hope all is well when they return . . .